Symbolic resources and imagination in the dynamics of life
| Abstract |
This chapter presents two mutually dependent conceptual developments
in sociocultural psychology: the concept of “symbolic resources” and
a theory of imagination. It argues that, although both have been
considered as side problems, these might actually enable to
highlight fundamental dynamics in the study of human development in
the lifecourse, as well as cultural change. The chapter is organized
five sections. The first section sketches a sociocultural psychology
of lifecourse and highlights some of its challenges. The second
section presents a sociocultural psychological theory, while the
third retraces the concept of symbolic resources. These two
sections each present a short historical summary and a theoretical
model. The fourth section puts these two concepts at work, and
shows how they may participate to the definition of the lifecourse
and societal change, but also, how these can be constrained. The
fifth section opens on further theoretical and methodological
challenges. |
| Keywords |
Symbolic resource; imagination; lifecourse development; sphere of experience; methodology; integrative model |
| Citation | Zittoun, T. (2018). Symbolic resources and imagination in the dynamics of life. In A. Rosa & J. Valsiner (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of sociocultural psychology (pp. 178-204). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. |
| Type | Book chapter (English) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Editor | Alberto Rosa, Jaan Valsiner |
| Book title | Cambridge Handbook of sociocultural psychology |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, UK) |
| Pages | 178-204 |
| URL | https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316662229.011 |
| Related project | Imagination |